Always Hope
by Jewels-Rem
Summary: Based on Hope Floats. Even if you haven't seen it, please R&R! I added in my own spice, the girl "Brooklyn" is made up and everything about her. PLZ READ INTRO! A family is struggling to keep hold of their changing lives when a helpful man enters it.
1. Introduction

For months Leah Calvert Tilson had noticed things about her husband, Dale. Not enjoy the presence of his family, which are his wife, and their two daughters Bernice and Brooklyn, going out late at night, never calling when he was away on business trips, and never treating Leah like a real husband should.   
  
But now Leah's fears have come true. After getting over the shock of the bad news, she heads back to her hometown of Smithville, Texas. Now she's dealing with catty old friends and acquaintances from high school who can't help rubbing in Leah's face that she isn't as perfect as she thought. All the more, Leah's still trying to get back on her feet with her daughters. Deeply depressed, she runs into an old friend, Jake Matisse, who tries to help her through. But is Leah getting the feeling that he's in love with her? Leah must make a new life for her and her daughters not knowing whether Jake will be a part of it or not. 


	2. The Toni Post Show

Crowds of people were seated in TV set seats. All of them had bought tickets for the same reason, to see the Toni Post Show in person.  
  
A woman with dark red curly hair stood in the isleway in the crowd, holding flashcards and a microphone.  
  
"Welcome to the Toni Post Show! I'm your host Toni Post. Do you love life? I love life. I love life! I love my job. You know why I love my job? I get to wake up each morning and spend it with you."   
  
The croud applauds and cheers.  
  
Toni Post continues, "That's right, that's right I mean that. We're going to talk about real things, real people. We're going to get down and dirty. And that's what makes a difference! All right, let's start with our first guest."  
  
The lights get bright as the crowd sees a young woman, about in her 30s, sitting on a tan couch in the middle of the stage. She had blonde hair, with poor makeup. Her outfit consisted of a dark brownish green blouse with a short tan miniskirt. She had bright red lipstick on her pursed lips, and one leg was folded over the other, to reveal high heels on her feet.  
  
"Connie Phillips from Chicago." Toni Post announced.  
  
"Hi." Connie nodded.  
  
"Now we want to ask you how you feel about this friend we've heard so much about." Toni Post said, shrugging her shoulders with beady eyes as she held her microphone.  
  
Connie answered, "I'd walk through fire for her. She's not just a friend, she's my best friend, you know?"  
  
"Best friend." Toni Post repeated, "Now tell me, how long have you been having an affair with her husband?"   
  
Connie sighed and looked down, almost annoyed. She looked very guilty, yet happy with herself, "A little over a year now." she said.  
  
Some people in the audience cheered, murmured, and were shocked.  
  
Connie scoffed, "Well, he doesn't love her! He loves me."  
  
Toni Post asked, "And does she know why she's appearing on our show today?"  
  
Connie fidgeted her shoulders and head nervously, "She thinks she's here for a makeover." A small smile crept across Connie's face after she finally admitted it to thousands of people watching her on TV. The audience burst into laughter.  
  
Toni Post looked back into the laughing and cheering crowd and inhaled, "Ouch! That's got to hurt."  
  
"Well you know what, I'm sure we're all wondering here why you chose to reveal this to her, your friend, on national television." Toni Post continued.  
  
"Because I…I want her to hear my point of view." Connie said, "I really want her to hear me, you know?"  
  
"Fair enough, let's bring her out. Let's bring out your friend Leah. Come on out Leah! Give Leah a hand.   
  
A young woman, blindfolded, in a beautiful white dress with embroidered flowers, stood behind a door anxiously waiting her makeover. One of the show's crew members opened the door and started to lead her out onto the stage.   
  
Everyone applauded, even Connie, as she sighed and looked down.  
  
"Leah, hi Leah." Toni Post said.  
  
Leah sat down on the couch next to Connie, smiling. Her gorgeous dark auburn hair pulled back with a black headband. She was beaming.  
  
"So tell us, how do you feel?" Toni Post asked.  
  
Leah sat down, getting situated as best she could with a blindfold, and said with a smile, "Oh! I'm delightful, thank you."  
  
"Okay. Leah, do you recognize the voice of the person sitting next to you?" Toni Post asked.   
  
Leah slightly moved her hand in the air toward Connie.   
  
Connie sighed shortly and said, "Hi, Leah."  
  
"Connie? My--my best friend Connie?" Leah guessed.  
  
"Absolutely correct. Go ahead and take off your blindfold." Toni Post said.  
  
Leah took off her blindfold and exclaimed, at the sight of Connie, "Oh, my god! Hi!"   
  
"Leah. Connie is your best friend?" Toni Post asked.  
  
"Yes she's my best friend." Leah said with a small chuckle, her smile never leaving her face. Leah put her hand on Connie's.  
  
"She's told us that she loves you very much." Toni Post said confidently.  
  
Leah smiled and nodded, "Yes. I love you, too."   
  
"And the last thing she wants to do is hurt you in any way." Toni Post said to the microphone, shaking her head a little. Leah nodded a little unsurely, but her smile was ever present.  
  
Toni Post, Leah, and even Connie nodded to each other, with smiles.   
  
"Connie?" Toni Post said, nodding the microphone to Connie to let her know she can start on her story.  
  
"Leah…" Connie said uncomfortably. She sighed, looked down a bit, then continued, "Dale and I are having an affair. He doesn't love you anymore. He wants to marry me."   
  
Leah looked up to the cheering and applauding crowd. She gave a little chuckle, her smile almost leaving her face, and she put a strand of her hair behind her ears. She looked around nervously.  
  
"What? I.." Leah stammered.  
  
"Connie wants you to know that your friendship is very, very important to her," Toni Post piped up, "She loves you very much Leah."  
  
Leah started breathing heavier as she nervously put her hair behind her ears once more. She looked up at Connie, "Uh H-h-ave you been sleeping with him?" Her voice was almost a whisper.  
  
Connie looked at Leah like she was nuts, and scoffed, "Well, yeah." She shook her head.  
  
"Actually, Connie told us earlier that she slept with your husband Dale in your home on her living room floor." Toni Post said, too casually, and almost proudly that she got the scoop. She held out her hands innocently.  
  
The audience cheered.  
  
Leah blinked in shock as she looked down anxiously.  
  
Next to her, Connie eyed her as she put her hair behind her ears, almost grinning.  
  
"I want to know what Dale has to say," Toni Post announced, "How about you, you want to hear it from Dale?"  
  
The crowd cheered once again.  
  
"All right, let's bring Dale in. Come on Dale, join us won't you? That's right." The same crew member that had helped Leah onto the stage, opened another door to reveal a grinning blindfolded Dale.  
  
Leah closed her eyes in shock and looked around like this whole thing was crazy. And she was no incorrect.  
  
Toni Post looked around the cheering audience with her hands in the air again, "Come on, come on, come on, come on." she said to the audience, trying to make them settle down.  
  
The crew member led Dale to the couch, sitting between Leah and Connie.   
  
"Dale, thank you for appearing on The Toni Post Show." Toni Post said proudly.  
  
"Thank you, ma'am." Dale said in his low awkard voice. He folded his hands on his lap and nodded, still smiling. Leah looked straight ahead, wishing he'd wipe that grin off his face.  
  
"Okay, take off your blindfold!" Toni Post said, brushing her hand in front of her.  
  
Dale took of his blindfold and looked at both of the women next to him, nodding. He smiled at both of them, but his grin was wider once he looked at Leah.  
  
"Dale, are you having an affair with your wife's best friend?" Toni Post asked. The lights on the stage dimmed for suspense, as a spotlight appeared on Dale. Leah looked at him sadly with tears in her eyes, almost like a plea. She looked down hopeless.  
  
Dale nodded, "Yes ma'am." The audience cheered as Leah looked away. She felt like the most humiliated woman on earth.   
  
Toni Post put her arms up, her flashbards in hand, as she shook her head, "All right! That's it. We've got to take a break. I'm sorry, we're going to be back with some more sizzle on the Toni Post Show."  
  
Leah winced and looked around with tears. She looked over in the audience where her daughters were sitting. Her 7 year old was in an adorable pink and white dress, tears streaming down her face. She was sobbing as she sat there with her back straight and her arms folded on her lap. She looked like someone just tore her heart out as she looked at her mother with teary eyes showing through her glasses. Her oldest daughter of 15 sat there with tears. She looked at Dale who was grinning in heaven as he looked at Connie. She looked so angry with him. She sat there trying to comfort her sister.   
  
Leah sighed and looked at her daughters, forcing them a smile. As she sat there looking at her gleaming husband, her devastated daughters, and the cheering crowd, she made a decision. She's leaving. 


	3. You're Here!

Seven year old Bernice Tilson struggled as she carried her small VHS TV out to the car. It was white and had stickers and writing all over it from Bernice's doodling.  
  
She sat it in the very back, along with a lot of other luggage.  
  
"Bernice, did you get my suitcase in the car?" Leah called from inside.  
  
"Yes." Bernice said, flopping down a large handbag above the TV.  
  
"Yeah, Mama. We should be there in a few days." Leah was in the living room, going through Dale's clothes that were left at the house. The phone was between her shoulder and her ear as Leah talked to her mother over the phone. Leah grabbed a shirt and started ripping it to shreds with a knife. Dale didn't want them anymore.  
  
"Well, if it's not an…inconvenience." Leah said to the phone. She threw down the shirt and picked up another one. She paused when she saw it.  
  
"Oh…" Leah sighed, and put her head on the collar. She breathed in his smell, missing it already.  
  
"All right Mama. Me, too. Bye-bye."  
  
Leah's fifteen year old daughter, Brooklyn, walked down the stairs with a handful of belongings and suitcases.   
  
"Um, do you want me to help you with that Brook?" Leah asked.  
  
"No Mom, I've got it!" Brooklyn said through tears. She pushed open the screen door and stuffed her luggage in the back of their car.  
  
Leah sighed, heart-broken not only for her but for her daughters too. She sat down on one of the chairs for the last time as she smelt Dale's shirt. She threw it on the floor, grabbed her bags, and got in the car.  
  
As the car pulled out of the driveway, Bernice, who was in the very front seat, turned around on her knees and looked back at the house for the last time. Brooklyn, in the back seat, kept looking out the window.  
  
Bernice kept starring at the house as they were driving away.   
  
"Don't look back sweetheart." Leah said, taking her eyes off the road for just one moment, "It's bad luck. Turn around, put on your seatbelt." she said. Bernice turned around and plopped on the chair, buckling her seatbelt.  
  
Leah glanced at the house in her side-door mirror and sighed, holding back tears. She looked over at Bernice who was starring at the dashboard, with a vacant sad expression.  
  
"Take the wheel." Leah said gently. Bernice slowly looked over at the steering-wheel.  
  
"Bernice, don't be a baby, just take the wheel." Leah said, "Come on, come here." she said, grabbing Bernice's hand.  
  
Brooklyn looked up at them as Leah reached back to grab her purse.  
  
"Okay, thank you." Leah whispered, "Here we go." she whispered again, pulling out a piece of paper, looking at it quickly, before handing it to Bernice.  
  
Bernice read it in her mind….  
  
_Dear Princess,  
  
I know you're confused now, and I don't blame you. I want you to know none of this is your or Brooklyn's fault. This is between your Mom and me. Not a day will go by when I won't think about you both and wish you were with me. I love you, honey. Be nice to your mom. Kiss Brook for me.  
  
All my heart,  
  
Daddy _  
  
Bernice finished the letter and folded it. She set it on the seat, unbuckled her seatbelt, and got on the floor…resting her head on the seat. Leah looked over at her and saw a tear flicker down Bernice's face.  
  
"Brooklyn…" Leah said, looking at her in the mirror.  
  
Brooklyn moved her head down, not looking Leah in the eye.  
  
"Brooklyn…this isn't your fault." Leah said sympathetically.  
  
"I know that Mom." Brooklyn said softly, "But Dad wouldn't do this if he really loved you."   
  
"Us." she corrected.  
  
"He will always love you and Bernice, Brook!" Leah said worriedly, "Nothing will ever take that away from him, no one ever can."   
  
"But _he_ can." Brook said, looking out the window.  
  
Leah put her eyes back on the road as she drove into town, and got on the freeway.  
  
  
  
_Baby, baby. I'm aware of where you go  
Each time you leave my door  
I watch you walk down the street  
Knowing your other love you're gonna meet_  
  
They drove past a sign that said 'Texas State Line: 3 Miles'  
  
_This time, before you run to her  
Leaving me alone and hurt  
Leaving me alone and hurt  
Think it over_  
  
Leah looked out the window and saw cattle eating the greenest grass she had ever seen. It started jumping up and down like a bucking bronco. Leah didn't have the heart to laugh.  
  
_Haven't I been good to you?  
Think it over_  
  
'You Are Now Entering Smithville' another sign read.  
  
  
Bernice smelled the air, "What's that funny smell?" she asked.  
  
A small smile crept across Leah's face, "Cows." she said, leaning over to Bernice like it was a secret.  
  
"Is this where you were…Cream of Corn?" Bernice said giggling, looking over at Leah.  
  
"Queen of Corn, honey, and three years running." Leah said in her southern accent, squinting in the sunlight, "A feat unsurpassed in the history of Smithville."  
  
"Oh." Bernice smiled.  
  
Leah glanced at her, "Okay so maybe that was a long time ago, but, believe me honey. Once upon a time, your Mama knew what it meant to shine."  
  
_Before you break my heart  
Think it over   
  
_


	4. Getting Adjusted and Travis The Pup

Leah slowly drove down the street in Smithville, and parked her car near the beautiful, small, but beautiful entrance to the sidewalk leading to the house.  
  
Ramona Calvert, Leah's mother, was sitting on a homemade chair on her front porch. She lifted her hands up suddenly and exclaimed slowly, "Oh! You're here! You're actually here!"  
  
She stood up, stomping her foot, which were hidden inside her cowboy boots, down on the porch to show her excitement. Her slightly curly blonde hair was resting right on her shoulders and sitting behind her ears. Her button up red shirt was tucked into her blue jeans, held up by a brown belt with a small gold buckle.  
  
"Oh, my baby!" she exclaimed again, "My BABIES!" she corrected, when she realized that her two granddaughters were there too. She stepped down the two stairs and walked down the small sidewalk to greet them.  
  
"Brooklyn. Here baby." Leah said, hanging Brooklyn a large suitcase, "Bernice." she said, hanging her the white TV.  
  
"Look at me," Ramona said to Brooklyn, "You are absolutely gorgeous! Oh!" she exclaimed, putting her hands around Brooklyn as she hugged her sweetly. She tapped her on the nose as the hug broke.  
  
Brooklyn smiled as best as she could with the weight of the suitcase, shifting it over to her other side, and said, "Hi Grandmama!"  
  
Ramona gasped when she Bernice, "Wow darling you look even better than the pictures! You look just like my mama, you know that?" Ramona said, putting each of her hands on each side of Bernice's neck and kissed each of her cheeks.  
  
"And Lea-" she stopped when she saw Leah.  
  
"Hey, Mama." Leah said happily, rubbing Ramona's arm.  
  
The look on Ramona's face was a look of shock, as she asked worriedly, "Leah, you take up drinkin'?"  
  
"No I have not," Leah answered, and ushered her two girls into the house, "Go inside." she said softly.  
  
"You mean this is you, stone sober?" Ramona asked, still looked at Leah, "You look just awful!"  
  
"Well, I….FEEL…awful, Mama." Leah said, carrying her purse and a bag in one hand, and two boxes full of her belongings in the other.  
  
"Well, you look it." Ramona said again.  
  
"Well, I feel it!" Leah said once more.  
  
Well…." Ramona sighed, looking down and shaking her head, "You look it." Leah just starred at her.  
  
"Here, let me take one of those." Ramona said, taking one of the boxes from Leah.  
  
"Come on honeys I got a present for both of you!" Ramona exclaimed to Brooklyn and Bernice, "Come on."  
  
"Here, Mom." Bernice said, hanging Leah the white TV. Brooklyn just kept walking in with the suitcase.  
  
"I just can't believe you're here!" Ramona said excitedly, "Ok, now…" she said as she opened the screen door that led into her old-fashioned, cute little home. There were dimmed lights all around, some were driven by electricity, others lit by candles. There was a couch, a coffee table, and a comfy chair with homemade quilts on them, making the living room all the more welcome.  
  
Leah hurried to the screen door before it closed, "Oh, oh, oh, oh!" The door shut right as she got to it. She sighed, and somehow got it open with her full arms.  
  
"Okay, these are presents from your Grandpa and me." Ramona said proudly, handing Bernice a paper bag with something in it, and Brooklyn a small sized box.  
  
Brooklyn sat down the suitcase she was holding and took the present, smiling a thank you.  
  
"How is Daddy?"  
  
"Oh, he's fine," Ramona answered, "He has a little cold this week, so we can't see him till Saturday, but…he's, uh…you know, he's fine."  
  
"Good!" Leah sighed, setting down her things.  
  
"Wow Grandmamma!" Brooklyn exclaimed as she opened the box, using her name for Ramona, 'grandmamma'. "They're beautiful!" she said, with a huge smile on her face as she looked at the dangly earings that were made from real stones.  
  
"Ohhh, really, you like them that much?" Ramona teased, "They're homemade."  
  
"Thank you! I absolutely adore them!" Brooklyn said, as she took out her own earings and put in her new ones.  
  
Ramona smiled gratefully.  
  
Bernice took her gift out of the bag and looked at it oddly. It was an adorable brown bunny with a cute green dress.  
  
"It's a bunny purse!" Ramona said encouragingly, "You don't like stuffed animals?" she said as she saw Bernice look at it up and down, and turning it around to look at the back.  
  
Bernice just looked at Ramona.  
  
"That's all right, come on. We'll get you settled first okay? But be very quiet" she said, putting her finger up to her lips, "Because we don't want to wake up Travis." she said.  
  
"You remember your cousin, don't you?" Ramona said, reminding Bernice of who Travis is.  
  
Leah stretched her back and neck as she looked around her old home, that she has missed so much since being in the city.  
  
"He got so excited waitin' for yall to arrive, he just pooped out." Ramona explained, plopping her hands on her thighs. She motioned for the girls to follow her as she climbed up the stairs. Halfway up, Ramona stopped and looked down at Bernice and Brooklyn, who looked right back up at her.  
  
"You see those?" Ramona asked as she pointed to two stuffed kitties, real ones who used to be alive, in dresses on the railing of the stairs.  
  
Bernice nodded, and Brooklyn watched.  
  
"They're Scaredy-Cats," Ramona said with a smile, "You get it?"  
  
Ramona chuckled as she lightly pushed the cats, which in result, the cat yowled back.  
  
Bernice jumped and moved backwards slightly. Brooklyn forced back a smile, whilst Leah started picking up her things again to bring up the stairs.  
  
Ramona laughed loudly as she made her way up the rest of the stairs.  
  
She took a breath, "You're Grandpa and I made a fortune off of them! Leah!" Ramona shouted at the top of the stairs, "Lock the door! You want to be murdered in your bed?"  
  
Leah looked up and sighed as she went to the door, and shut and locked it.  
  
She looked at Bernice who was still shock-stricken, "Don't worry sweetheart, if they bite you, they got rubber teeth."  
  
Bernice turned to Leah and said, her eyes wide, "Did Grandma kill those animals herself?"  
  
"No honey," Leah said, winking at Brooklyn who brushed her hair past her face to look at her earings in the mirror, "They come here already dead." Leah closed the curtains.  
  
Brooklyn smiled and picked up her suitcase.  
  
"See this way, they live forever." Leah said to Bernice, taking another look at the suffed cats.  
  
"As Scaredy-Cats," Bernice said.  
  
"Yeah, Scaredy-Cats." Leah answered as they both climbed the stairs with Brooklyn following.  
  
Leah walked out of the bathroom in her pink night-gown and opened the door to Brooklyn's room.  
  
Brooklyn was in her pajamas, on her bed, turning a gold chain watch around in her fingers. A pillow was underneath her arms as she lay on her stomach.  
  
"Where did you get that, sweet heart?" Leah asked as she sat down on the bed next to her, putting her hand on Brooklyn's back.  
  
"It's Daddy's," Brooklyn said, "It was his promise that he'd never leave us. It was grandmother's," she said, referring to Dale's mother. "And Dad said that since Grandpa promised him with that watch that he'd never leave him, Dad gave it to me saying he'd never leave us."  
  
Brooklyn looked up at Leah and gave her a sweet sympathetic smile.  
  
Leah was about to speak when Brooklyn said, "I'm okay Mom. Really." she nodded, "I think I'm gonna like it here."  
  
Leah shut her eyes and nodded with a smile. She patted Brooklyn's back as she kissed her forehead, "I love you baby. I promise we will work this out."  
  
Brooklyn nodded, "I love you too. 'Night Mom."  
  
Leah smiled and got up and shut Brooklyn's door to a crack.. She walked across the hall into Bernice's room, where Bernice was lying flat on her back, clutching her bunny purse, starring at the ceiling.  
  
"It's a nice room, isn't it?" Leah said to Bernice as she put some clothes in a drawer.  
  
"See that door right there?" Leah asked, pointing to a door in Bernice's room, "Leads right into mine. Joined rooms. Is that neat?" She grabbed a bag at the end of Bernice's bed and took some things out. She put them into a small chest at the end of her bed.  
  
"Okay," Leah whispered, "That about does it. Oh! I got a little surprise for you." she said, grabbing something off of the night-stand. Leah took something off the end of it and a light shined onto Bernice's nose. It was a tiny, long, flashlight.  
  
"So you don't bump into doors at night," Leah explained, hanging the flashlight to Bernice. Bernice tucked it into a pocket in her nightgown and kept a straight, serious face.  
  
"Okay," Leah said, grabbing the covers, "Feet in. Arms in or out?"  
  
"Out." Bernice said as she lifted up her arms. Leah covered with the blankets and looked into her eyes.  
  
"There you go." she said tucking the covers underneath Bernice, making her look all rolled up.  
  
"Snug as a bug in a rug." Leah said, "Goodnight, baby." She kissed her forehead, turned out the light, and walked into her room.  
  
She grabbed a small pillow off the floor and sat down in the chair next to her bed. She heard Ramona's light go off.  
  
Leah sat there, rubbing her arm nervously, and looked down. She held back her tears as she climbed into bed and turned her light off. Though she tried, she could not get Dale off her mind through the whole night… 


End file.
